Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak Janko
| place_of_birth = Al Qamashil, Syria | date_of_arrest = | place_of_arrest= | arresting_authority= | date_of_release = | place_of_release= | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | citizenship = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 489 | group = | alias = | charge = No charge | penalty = | status = Released to Belgium | csrt_summary = | csrt_transcript= | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} A Syrian-Kurd, Abd Al-Rahim Abdul Rassak al-Ginco (عبدالرحیم عبدالرسک الجنکو) (also al-Janko) was a student in the United Arab Emirates who traveled to Afghanistan in 2000, where he was captured by the Taliban, who suspected he was a US spy, and then captured by the American, and spent seven year in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. A videotape of al-Rahim was discovered in the rubble of a senior al Qaeda member Mohammed Atef. He said it was a video taped in 2000, following Atef's torturing him into confessing to spying against the Taliban. The Bush administration called it a "martyrdom video", claiming that in it al-Rahim spoke of dying as a martyr following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He claims to have been captured by the Taliban and tortured by al-Qaeda into making the tape, while the United States believes he made it voluntarily and made him one of the first terrorist suspects listed on the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list. After begging a British journalist to alert the Americans that he had been held prisoner by the Taliban for two years, he was arrested and held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He is currently living in Antwerpen, Belgium Alleged martyrdom video On January 14, 2002, a five video cassettes were recovered from the rubble of the destroyed home of Mohammad Atef outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. The tapes showed Abderraouf Jdey, Ramzi Binalshibh, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, and Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani vowing to die as martyrs.CBC, Two Canadians among fugitive al-Qaeda members, January 26, 2002 A video of Al-Rahim was also found in the rubble, and described as a martyrdom video. It was the first time authorities had reason to suspect him of any wrongdoing. NBC News said the videos had been recorded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Al Rahim said that the video was not a martyrdom video, that it was a confession videotaped in 2000, after the Taliban had tortured him into confessing to being a spy for Israel and the USA. In response, on January 17, 2002 the FBI released to the public the first Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information list, in order to profile the five wanted terrorists about whom very little was known, but who were suspected of plotting additional terrorist attacks. The videos were shown by the FBI without sound, to guard against the possibility that the messages contained signals for other terrorists.Most Wanted Terrorists Seeking Information, January 17, 2002Martyrdom Messages/video, Seeking Information Alert, video clips published by the FBI January 17, 2002, and photos of remaining 5 terrorists, FBI archival after September 2002 created by the FBI to show how al-Rahim may try to disguise himself.]] U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called upon people worldwide to help "identify, locate and incapacitate terrorists who are suspected of planning additional attacks against innocent civilians... These men could be anywhere in the world." Ashcroft added that an analysis of the audio suggested "the men may be trained and prepared to commit future suicide terrorist acts." On that day, Ramzi Binalshibh was one of the only four known names among the five. Ashcroft said not much was known about any of them except Binalshibh. The other initial known three are still featured in compiled video clips on the FBI site, in order of appearance, Muhammad Sa'id Ali Hasan, Abd Al-Rahim, and Khalid Ibn Muhammad Al-Juhani.FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, mpg (29.1 mb)FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, rm (229 kb - stream)FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism, Martyrdom Messages/video Seeking Information Alert, VIDEO 2 minutes 11 seconds, asf (371 kb - stream) The fifth subject was identified a week later as Abderraouf Jdey. Adb Al-Rahim, along with three others, was later removed by the FBI from the official count on the main page of the Seeking Information list. By February 2, 2003, the FBI rearranged its entire wanted lists on its web site, into the current configuration. The outstanding five martyr video suspects (including Jdey's Montreal associate Boussora) were moved to a separate linked page, titled "Martyrdom Messages/video, Seeking Information Alert" (Although both Jdey and Boussora were later returned to the main FBI list page). Around this time the FBI also changed the name of the list, to the FBI "Seeking Information - War on Terrorism", to distinguish it from its other wanted list of "Seeking Information," which the FBI already uses for ordinary fugitives, those who are not terrorists.FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism archive page, Internet Archive Wayback Machine, February 2, 2003 Transfer from Taliban to US custody Abd Al Rahim was one of nine former Taliban prisoners the Associated Press pointed out had gone from Taliban custody to American custody. Tim Reid, writing in The Times recorded how he met al-Ginco in January 2002, when he was stranded in Kandahar, after his release from two years in brutal Taliban custody. mirror Reid described finding al-Ginco, and four other foreign prisoners, as the only remaining occupants of a Taliban prison, which had been abandoned and emptied after the Taliban's collapse. Reid described agreeing to help contact American and British authorities for help on the men's behalf, not expecting that the Americans would send them to Guantanamo. According to Reid, al-Ginco told his lawyers he ended up in Afghanistan after running away from home. He believed European countries would grant him refugee status if he applied from Afghanistan. Instead he found himself being used as forced labor by the Taliban—and when something he said triggered their suspicion they sent him to one of their own torture prisons. He told his lawyers he was tortured by Mohammed Atef himself. Eventually he was tortured into confessing he was an Israeli spy. Reid wrote that his coerced confessions was broadcast on Arabic TV in Abu Dhabi. Reid wrote that Al Ginco's lawyers say that while a videotape found in the rubble of Mohammed Atef's ruined house included footage of Al Ginco, it was footage of the confession coerced from during his torture by the Taliban, and in no way indicated any kind of association with terrorism. Denounced Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim During his testimony at his own Combatant Status Review Tribunal, Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim said that both he and al-Ginco had been prisoners of the Taliban since early 2000. | title=Summarized Statement | date=date redacted | pages=pages 1–15 | author=OARDEC | publisher=United States Department of Defense | accessdate=2008-05-05 }} Al Karim, a refugee from Iraq, said he was imprisoned on February 15, 2000 because al-Ginco, who had recently been arrested himself, had denounced him to the Taliban, claiming he was an American spy. Al Karim said that when the Northern Alliance had captured the prison, both men were transferred to American custody, and ended up in Guantanamo. Combatant Status Review Janko was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.OARDEC, Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005, September 4, 2007 A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. Janko's memo accused him of the following: | title=Summarized Statement | date=date redacted | pages=pages 148–161 | author=OARDEC | publisher=United States Department of Defense | accessdate=2008-05-05 }} On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a fourteen page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. * Janko acknowledged Syrian citizenship, living in the UAE, traveling to Afghanistan in January 2000 and studying for 18 days in small arms training at al Farouq upon arriving. He denied all other allegations. Habeas corpus A writ of habeas corpus, Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco v. Robert M. Gates, was submitted on Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco's behalf. p * * The United States Department of Defense published the unclassified dossiers from 179 captives' Combatant Status Review Tribunals. But they did not publish Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco's dossier. On June 16, 2008 the United States Supreme Court declined to consider his mandamus request. mirror First annual Administrative Review Board Janko chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. | title=Summary of Administrative Review Board Proceedings of ISN 489 | date=date redacted | author=OARDEC | pages=pages 92–107 | publisher=United States Department of Defense | accessdate=2008-05-05 }} In the Spring of 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published a Summarized transcript from his Administrative Review Board. A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak Janko's first annual Administrative Review Board, on 24 October 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Second annual Administrative Review Board A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd AL Rahim Abdul Raza Janko's second annual Administrative Review Board, on 26 June 2006. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Relocation To Belgium Janko was released in secret to Belgium in 2009. He now lives on welfare in the city of Antwerpen. Suing the US Government On June 20, 2008 the McClatchy News Service reported that Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al Ginco mirror : References External links * Ex-Guantanamo prisoner sues US The Sydney Morning Herald * Ex-Guantanamo detainee sues U.S. for damages Reuters, October 7, 2010 * Freed Guantanamo detainee sues U.S. military over alleged torture The Washington Post, October 6, 2010 * Why Did It Take So Long To Order The Release From Guantánamo Of An Al-Qaeda Torture Victim? Andy Worthington June 24, 2009 * Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo on Democracy Now! * Judge Richard Leon’s unclassified opinion * Human Rights First; Habeas Works: Federal Courts’ Proven Capacity to Handle Guantánamo Cases (2010) Category:Living people Category:1978 births Category:Syrian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees Category:Prisoners of the Taliban Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released